Saturday, October 21, 2017

THE BEAR KING TO BE MADE AVAILABLE AGAIN THROUGH PUBLICATION

I not long ago removed my book THE BEAR KING from publication. I did so out of some uncertainty about the validity of this newer theory on the identity of King Arthur. Simply put, I came to realize that unless I were able to show with some high degree of probability what the actual name of Arthur's father was that I would be unable to argue my case convincingly. Readers of my blog here have been witnessing my attempts to pin down Uther Pendragon. While a few possible candidates seem to hold promise, none of them can be confirmed by utilizing sources external to those produced by the Welsh. Uther is beyond doubt a title, not a name, and this poses all kinds of problems for the Arthurian researcher.

Ironically, without knowing it at the time, I did possess the kind of "proof" I needed. Such textual evidence took the form of a proposed misrendering of the name Arthur as found in the Life of St. Germanus of Auxerre. A post on this was included as in appendix in the book. The idea seemed compelling, but rather far-fetched, and I really didn't dare hold to the view that it might be true - until I heard back from several top scholars who were experts in the discipline of late and medieval Latin and hagiography. They were of the opinion that my thinking was sound on this point. And this meant, in essence, that I could claim to know Arthur's real father.

As soon as this supportive material can be added to THE BEAR KING and I have republished the title in electronic and paperback formats, I will make the relevant links available here.